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My question is, why can't the government just balance the budget with the current funds it's getting?
Because that would require significant cuts immediately. That alone will depress aggregate demand which in turn will cause a decline in activity and tax revenue. This is the problem behind an annual balanced budget amendment. I haven't met a rational person who thinks that revenue will increase as demand goes down. Even the whackjobs here who think we should cut everything run away when asked how that creates jobs. So constantly balancing the budget annual during slow growth or a recession will theoretically cause a default as revenue keeps declining as cuts keep being made. The indirect spending of all federal employees is immense. To cut them entirely out means everyone who has a business that benefits from such spending now just lost those sales. You see this happen when a base closing happens. Dozens of business catering to base personnel fold up because demand just disappeared. Apply that to the entire federal workforce and revenue will drop like a rock. Which then requires you to cut even more. That's a death spiral into default.